Pagoda cup losing color

[gt8448a]

Hey gang. I have a slight problem with my pagoda cup that I wanted to pose to the group. Over the last few weeks, I have noticed the color of the skeleton of the cup turning from a deep purple to a creamy white. For a while, the polyps were not opening as fully as they once were, but they are over that phase and opening up more beautifully. CA++ is ~475ppm, pH has been steady at 8.3, and KH is around 5-6. Is this just a phase that the cup is going through, or could my lighting not be strong enough? (30 watts, positioned high in the tank). I have had it for about 4 months now.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Harrell

 

[Anemone]

Is this just a phase that the cup is going through, or could my lighting not be strong enough? (30 watts, positioned high in the tank). I have had it for about 4 months now.

Well, if that's not a typo, I'd say that's the probably cause of your problem. I've had my cup coral in a 40 gallon tank beneath 2x96 watt PCs for 4 years, and it's doing very well. You don't mention the size of your tank, and in actuality I don't think it really matters as 30 watts isn't enough for this photosynthetic coral (IMO).

Kevin

 

[Anonymous]

Ditto. Mine is under 380 watts of VHO.

 

[cyberpanther]

Mine is under 720 watts (2 250 watt 10,000k MH, and 2 110 watt actinic vhos) in a 75 gallon reef and is still at the top, looks great though.

 

[gt8448a]

So, after all the posts about the severe lack of lighting in my tank, I bit the bullet and added a 35 watt PC, for a total of 65 watts. Does anyone have any suggestions as what kind of schedule I need the light to be on to acheive max benefit? As of Sunday, I have been leaving it on for 3 hours, and I plan to increase it to 4 hours tomorrow. Is this too slow or just about right?

Thanks again for the help!

Harrell